The use of contrast agents in diagnostic medicine is rapidly growing. In X-ray diagnostics, for example, increased contrast of internal organs, such as the kidneys, the urinary tract, the digestive tract, the vascular system of the heart (angiography), and so forth is obtained by administering a contrast agent which is substantially radiopaque. In conventional proton MRI diagnostics, increased contrast of internal organs and tissues may be obtained by administering compositions containing paramagnetic metal species which increase the relaxivity of surrounding protons. In ultrasound diagnostics, improved contrast is obtained by administering compositions having acoustic impedances different than that of blood and other tissues.
The recently developed technique of MRI encompasses the detection of certain atomic nuclei utilizing magnetic fields and radio-frequency radiation. It is similar in some respects to X-ray computed tomography (CT) in providing a cross-sectional display of the body organ anatomy with excellent resolution of soft tissue detail. As currently used, the images produced constitute a map of the proton density distribution, the relaxation times, or both, in organs and tissues. The technique of MRI is advantageously non-invasive as it avoids the use of ionizing radiation.
While the phenomenon of NMR was discovered in 1945, it is only recently that it has found application as a means of mapping the internal structure of the body as a result of the original suggestion of Lauterbur (Nature, 242, 190-191 [1973]). The fundamental lack of any known hazard associated with the level of the magnetic and radio-frequency fields that are employed renders it possible to make repeated scans on vulnerable individuals. In addition to standard scan planes (axial, coronal, and sagittal), oblique scan planes can also be selected.
With an MRI experiment, the nuclei under study in a sample (e.g. protons) are irradiated with the appropriate radio-frequency (RF) energy in a highly uniform magnetic field. These nuclei, as they relax, subsequently emit RF at a sharp resonance frequency. The resonance frequency of the nuclei depends on the applied magnetic field.
According to known principles, nuclei with appropriate spin, when placed in an applied magnetic field (B, expressed generally in units of gauss or Tesla [10.sup.4 gauss]) align in the direction of the field. In the case of protons, these nuclei precess at a frequency, f, of 42.6 MHz, at a field strength of 1 Tesla. At this frequency, an RF pulse of radiation will excite the nuclei and can be considered to tip the net magnetization out of the field direction, the extent of this rotation being determined by the pulse duration and energy. After the RF pulse, the nuclei "relax" or return to equilibrium with the magnetic field, emitting radiation at the resonant frequency. The decay of the emitted radiation is characterized by two relaxation times, i.e., T.sub.1, the spin-lattice relaxation time or longitudinal relaxation time, that is, the time taken by the nuclei to return to equilibrium along the direction of the externally applied magnetic field, and T.sub.2, the spin-spin relaxation time associated with the dephasing of the initially coherent precession of individual proton spins. These relaxation times have been established for various fluids, organs and tissues in different species of mammals.
In MRI, scanning planes and slice thicknesses can be selected. This selection permits high quality transverse, coronal and sagittal images to be obtained directly. The absence of any moving parts in MRI equipment promotes high reliability. It is believed that MRI has a greater potential than CT for the selective examination of tissue characteristics in view of the fact that in CT, X-ray attenuation coefficients alone determine image contrast, whereas at least five separate variables (T.sub.1, T.sub.2, proton density, pulse sequence and flow) may contribute to the MRI signal.
By reason of its sensitivity to subtle physico-chemical differences between organs and/or tissues, it is believed that MRI may be capable of differentiating different tissue types and in detecting diseases which induce physicochemical changes that may not be detected by X-ray or CT which are only sensitive to differences in the electron density of tissue.
As noted above, two of the principal imaging parameters are the relaxation times, T.sub.1 and T.sub.2. For protons (or other appropriate nuclei), these relaxation times are influenced by the environment of the nuclei, (e.g., viscosity, temperature, and the like). These two relaxation phenomena are essentially mechanisms whereby the initially imparted radio-frequency energy is dissipated to the surrounding environment. The rate of this energy loss or relaxation can be influenced by certain other nuclei which are paramagnetic. Chemical compounds incorporating these paramagnetic nuclei may substantially alter the T.sub.1 and T.sub.2 values for nearby protons. The extent of the paramagnetic effect of a given chemical compound is a function of the environment.
In general, paramagnetic species such as ions of elements with atomic numbers of 21 to 29, 42 to 44 and 58 to 70 have been found effective as MRI image contrasting agents. Examples of suitable ions include chromium(III), manganese(II), manganese(III), iron(II), iron(III), cobalt(II), nickel(II), copper(II), praseodymium(III), neodymium(III), samarium(III), and ytterbium(III). Because of their very strong magnetic moments, gadolinium(III), terbium(III), dysprosium(III), holmium(III) and erbium(III) are preferred. Gadolinium(III) ions have been particularly preferred as MRI contrasting agents.
Typically, paramagnetic ions have been administered in the form of complexes with organic complexing agents. Such complexes provide the paramagnetic ions in a soluble, non-toxic form, and facilitate their rapid clearence from the body following the imaging procedure. Gries et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,647,447, disclose complexes of various paramagnetic ions with conventional aminocarboxylic acid complexing agents. A preferred complex disclosed by Gries et al. is the complex of gadolinium(III) with diethylenetriamine-pentaacetic acid ("DTPA"). Paramagnetic ions, such as gadolinium(III), have been found to form strong complexes with DTPA, ethylenediamine-tetraacetic acid ("EDTA"), and with tetraazacyclododecane-N,N',N",N"'-tetraacetic acid ("DOTA").
These complexes do not dissociate substantially in physiological aqueous fluids. The gadolinium complex of DTPA has a net charge of -2, whereas the gadolinium complex of EDTA or DOTA has a net charge of -1, and both are generally administered as soluble salts. Typical salts are sodium and N-methylglucamine. The administration of salts is attended by certain disadvantages. These salts can raise the in vivo ion concentration and cause localized disturbances in osmolality, which in turn, can lead to edema and other undesirable reactions.
Efforts have been made to design new ionic and neutral paramagnetic metal complexes which avoid or minimize the above mentioned disadvantages. In general, this goal can be achieved by converting one or more of the free carboxylic acid groups of the complexing agent to neutral, non-ionizable groups. For example, S. C. Quay, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,687,658 and 4,687,659, discloses alkylester and alkylamide derivatives, respectively, of DTPA complexes. Similarly, published Dean et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,826,673 discloses mono- and polyhydroxyalkylamide derivatives of DTPA and their use as complexing agents for paramagnetic ions. It can also be achieved by covalent attachment of organic cations to the complexing agent in such a manner that the sum of positive and negative charges in the resulting metal complex is zero.
The nature of additional substituents in the complexing agent can have a significant impact on tissue specificity. Hydrophilic complexes tend to concentrate in the interstitial fluids, whereas lipophilic complexes tend to associate with cells. Thus, differences in hydrophilicity can lead to different applications of the compounds. See, for example, Weinmann et al., AJR, 142, 679 (March 1984) and Brasch, et al., AJR, 142, 625 (March 1984).
Finally, toxicity of paramagnetic metal complexes is greatly affected by the nature of the complexing agents. In vivo release of free metal ions from the complex is a major cause of toxicity. Four principal factors are important in the design of chelates for making paramagnetic metal complexes that are highly stable in vivo and less toxic. The first three factors are thermodynamic in nature whereas the fourth involves chelate kinetics. The first factor is the thermodynamic stability constant of the metal-ligand. The thermodynamic stability constant indicates the affinity that the totally unprotonated ligand has for a metal. The second factor is the conditional stability constant which takes into account the pH and is important when considering stability under physiological pH. The selectivity of the ligand for the paramagnetic metal over other endogenous metal ions such as zinc, iron, magnesium and calcium is the third factor. In addition to the three thermodynamic considerations, complexes with structural features that make in vivo transmetallation reactions much slower than their clearance rates would be predicted to have low toxicities. Therefore, in vivo reaction kinetics are a major factor in the design of stable complexes. See, for example, Cacheris et al., Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 8:467 (1990) and Oksendal, et al., JMRI, 3:157 (1993).
A need continues to exist for new and structurally diverse compounds for use as imaging agents. There is a further need to develop highly stable complexes with good relaxivity and osmolar characteristics.